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Tone of conversation

Over the past six months to one year I have noticed that the tone of conversation has worsened on C2E.

In particular, there is an active thread with an antagonistic title. Furthermore, many posters become highly defensive when their ideas are criticized. Personal attacks are common when this occurs.

In my view, this phenomenon cheapens the whole site. I want to ask all users to reconsider what they type before they post it.

I also will be more vigilant about my own language. And I will press the report post button more often. Let's all practice some self moderation. And let's be more proactive about reporting conversations that are derailing.

I did not find the title to be antagonistic. When people start a new thread they have to be able to word it in a way that makes people want to read and maybe participate in the thread. That particular title did the trick. No one can predict how a thread is going to go. You also have to realize it's not the mutual admiration society forum. People gonna get mad now and again.

Okay, I'll concede that the title is not the biggest issue. But the tone (and that thread is not even what prompted this) is an issue. There certainly are some grievances around content, which are being aired in that other thread. But the tone is just as bad if not worse.

There is some childiish behaviour on the board. For example, a certain poster who follows everyother post of mine with some childish rant, as still bitter after losing the trolley debate many years ago. But we have an ignore feature for that. As to the tone, I think it hasn't changed much in the years I've been posting here, there will be times when different people will be upset at different people. That just indicates they care about something. We all move on in time.

Did you really need to say: "For example, a certain poster who follows everyother post of mine with some childish rant, as still bitter after losing the trolley debate many years ago". No, you didn't. That was completely unnecessary and will prompt a similar response from said person. Then everything will spiral out of control and you end up with the regular string of crap that follows.

If you don't want things to turn childish don't start by tossing lines like that, that are going to draw a response. It's called baiting.

The ignore button works. Use it. I've got like 10 people in the penalty box right now. I check every once in a while to see if they need to stay there. Some get pulled off for good behaviour. Undoubtedly a few have placed me on ignore, I likely deserve it.

^Well, you have been posting on this forum since Match 2015 and you have 10 people on ignore. Do you not think that is rather childish in itself. I don't think I have ever had that many people on the ignore list since I started posting. I quit doing it as sometimes the conversation got so disjointed it was hard to follow. You cannot steer the conversation by ignoring people just like you cannot steer it by not ignoring them. I would not call it a badge of honor because you have 10 people on ignore. I'd call it a massive fail on your part.

Did you really need to say: "For example, a certain poster who follows everyother post of mine with some childish rant, as still bitter after losing the trolley debate many years ago". No, you didn't. That was completely unnecessary and will prompt a similar response from said person. Then everything will spiral out of control and you end up with the regular string of crap that follows.

If you don't want things to turn childish don't start by tossing lines like that, that are going to draw a response. It's called baiting.

The ignore button works. Use it. I've got like 10 people in the penalty box right now. I check every once in a while to see if they need to stay there. Some get pulled off for good behaviour. Undoubtedly a few have placed me on ignore, I likely deserve it.

I guarantee he knows it's called baiting.

I also guarantee he knows what the ignore list is, because he has claimed multiple times to have put that 'most despised child' on it. Goodness only knows how he even knows someone is poking holes in his tactics and theories, really.

Did you really need to say: "For example, a certain poster who follows everyother post of mine with some childish rant, as still bitter after losing the trolley debate many years ago". No, you didn't. That was completely unnecessary and will prompt a similar response from said person. Then everything will spiral out of control and you end up with the regular string of crap that follows.

If you don't want things to turn childish don't start by tossing lines like that, that are going to draw a response. It's called baiting.

The ignore button works. Use it. I've got like 10 people in the penalty box right now. I check every once in a while to see if they need to stay there. Some get pulled off for good behaviour. Undoubtedly a few have placed me on ignore, I likely deserve it.

I guarantee he knows it's called baiting.

I also guarantee he knows what the ignore list is, because he has claimed multiple times to have put that 'most despised child' on it. Goodness only knows how he even knows someone is poking holes in his tactics and theories, really.

^Well, you have been posting on this forum since Match 2015 and you have 10 people on ignore. Do you not think that is rather childish in itself. I don't think I have ever had that many people on the ignore list since I started posting. I quit doing it as sometimes the conversation got so disjointed it was hard to follow. You cannot steer the conversation by ignoring people just like you cannot steer it by not ignoring them. I would not call it a badge of honor because you have 10 people on ignore. I'd call it a massive fail on your part.

I don't carry it as a badge of honour, that is you reading into it. I feel nothing positive or negative towards it. I also didn't say it was permanent. Some people get into bad moods. And reading their posts stinks everything up and is just unpleasant. This is a quick way to clear the cruft out. You can think that is childish all you want, but I would beg to differ.

To each, their own. I would rather not be spend my time reading or trying to avoid reading a bunch of super negative ignorant, half assed, ill-informed, ********. I come here to learn about the city and the goings not, not the half-baked nonsense that sometimes is spewed. Also, not saying this is all posters or even most, or that there is a lot of ***** ideas. I am saying it happens enough that I chose an approach that I find convenient, efficient and effective. And I have admitted I can contribute to some of the crap, most of us have. I also don't ignore everyone forever. Just when they are being particularly offensive. One off or rare events are meaningless. It's when it becomes a consistent thing and just weighs down the thread and makes it unpleasant to read will I put someone on the ignore list.

I included the number of people because it was an example of my way of doing it. It's not the right way or the only way, it is however something that works for me and makes my experiences that much nicer. And I hope no ones jumps on the "you can't avoid conflict, or stupid people, etc. in real life". I understand all too well that you can't always avoid conflict or losers or idiots or people you dislike or disagree with. But this isn't physical face to face interaction, it's virtual, and by that very nature allows me a level of control over my experience that the "real world" doesn't provide.

My 2 cents, and your mileage may vary greatly. What works for me won't work for everyone, nor will everyone think it's a good idea. Do what works for you.

I should add, even though I have been posting here since March, I have been lurking for many years before hand.

I've also never liked the fact that C2E is anonymous. I know that was not the original intention either. It allows people to get away with trolling.

It's not really anonymous, IP's can be logged (which doesn't mean that people can be identified necessarily but not truly anonymous either).

It's a fallacy to think that anonymity breeds trolling. Look at facebook, comment sections of websites and other places where your identity may in fact be well known. People will still act like fools and jerks. It has everything to do with the lack of a face to face presence (and thus the lack of personal connection and the more immediate visceral responses to being wronged than a delayed impersonal response) than with anonymity. ->This seems to be the current stance of research into online bulling/harassment.

Wouldn't it be neat to have a forum where every post would be unnamed. The information would stand on its own with much less typecasting, but probably far more abusive comments despite the IP logging.

As an aside, just a few days ago I was talking with someone about how much I missed my aunts and uncles that have passed away. They were quite funny, intelligent, friendly and gregarious conversationalists. They had poise. Something I completely lack and rarely find among my generation (which isn't young anymore) and ever less so among younger generations. By analogy, the differences basically mirror the differences between say yesterday's Johnny Carson and today's Bart Simpson. Or Obama vs Trump.

Wouldn't it be neat to have a forum where every post would be unnamed. The information would stand on its own with much less typecasting, but probably far more abusive comments despite the IP logging.

Sooo, 4chan? Fair warning, unless you want to see all manner of the worst and funniest and most terrible but amusing and awesome things all rolled into one perverted nightmarish package that makes you want to bleach the planet with nuclear fire, I would HIGHLY suggest never, ever in your wildest imaginations, venturing there. In fact forget that the aforementioned name exists. -> you've been warned

Did you really need to say: "For example, a certain poster who follows everyother post of mine with some childish rant, as still bitter after losing the trolley debate many years ago". No, you didn't. That was completely unnecessary and will prompt a similar response from said person. Then everything will spiral out of control and you end up with the regular string of crap that follows.

If you don't want things to turn childish don't start by tossing lines like that, that are going to draw a response. It's called baiting.

The ignore button works. Use it. I've got like 10 people in the penalty box right now. I check every once in a while to see if they need to stay there. Some get pulled off for good behaviour. Undoubtedly a few have placed me on ignore, I likely deserve it.

I guarantee he knows it's called baiting.

I also guarantee he knows what the ignore list is, because he has claimed multiple times to have put that 'most despised child' on it. Goodness only knows how he even knows someone is poking holes in his tactics and theories, really.

I'll take my 2 for roughing, but who with their 'childish' remark gets their instigator from you? As remarked, we're without referees. How do I solve it without taking the opportunity to expose whatever level of intelligence accounts for his continual political leaps of fact and logic?

Wouldn't it be neat to have a forum where every post would be unnamed. The information would stand on its own with much less typecasting, but probably far more abusive comments despite the IP logging.

Sooo, 4chan? Fair warning, unless you want to see all manner of the worst and funniest and most terrible but amusing and awesome things all rolled into one perverted nightmarish package that makes you want to bleach the planet with nuclear fire, I would HIGHLY suggest never, ever in your wildest imaginations, venturing there. In fact forget that the aforementioned name exists. -> you've been warned

there may be less moderation, but at least current mods don't troll like some of them used to... members can and should to some extend control what we put out. sometimes it isn't easy, but usually it's not so hard.

James. James GreenSpace. My name is KC. That's my "username". Or is it Kalvin Clein? Actually, maybe it is or isn't James Smith (from Kansas City) the most common full name in America. So even knowing the name does what?

Anyway, if it weren't anonymous, people would be dredging up decade old comments to use against them even if they had subsequently changed their positions. Or comments would be taken out of the context of an entire thread's discussion - which never gets published by those trying to negatively spin a story.

People could never play the devil's advocate out of fear that some excerpt would later be used against them. Same for using the Socratic method. Anyone using it would be portrayed as an ***** for not knowing the seemingly obvious.

Also, look at those that dig through old Facebook postings. The material they find is gold but who knows how reasonable and responsible the findings are in light of the discussions and context at the time. Or look at how mistaken identity issues put innocent people at risk because of the speed at which idenifiable information can be wrongly spread on the Internet. (Or just like the way historical figures are outed today for their positions tens or hundreds of years ago - the context is totally ignored.) Do we even know who it is that actually finds this material, or do they choose to remain anonymous themselves to hide their own motivations?

And when names aren't anonymous, you get calls to make them anonymous...

AirBnB racism claim: African-Americans 'less likely to get rooms'

When profiles had white-sounding names like..., there was a 50% success rate for a positive response - ie they were offered the room.

But with the black-sounding names - such as... - that figure dropped to 42%. The authors noted that the variation was consistent with "contexts ranging from labour markets to online lending to classified ads to taxicabs".

The study suggested that black hosts were just as likely to discriminate against black people as white hosts were.

There was no significant difference between the activity of male or female hosts.

... without the host seeing a guest's name beforehand - which is the proposed solution the authors suggest to AirBnB.

"[AirBnB] could conceal guest names, ...," the authors say.

"Communications on eBay's platform have long used pseudonyms and automatic salutations, so AirBnB could easily implement that approach."

Tone of conversation is always polite from me until you say something I find goofy or rude or ignorant. I try to be the 'bigger man' and scroll past but often I lash out at the morons. I will try to play nicer

Keep in mind we have Stickies here at C2E. It seems to me most people like software tos don't read the legal jargon just to get at the good stuff. Posters here (myself included) need to be held accountable. I hope most of us here are adults, but some really give me pause. On that note, Happy New Year everyone.

I figured I would bump this thread with some interesting numbers that I've always wanted to run here.

As I've often mentioned this is a board that on first impression comes off as unwelcoming, cliquey, and on later impressions comes off as unwelcoming and rather full of cliques. With a heaping helping of hive mind ready to tear the head off anybody with a differing view.

But my opinion doesn't matter, not in the slightest. (But neither does anybody elses opinion on this, that posts here regularly, matter. We remaining and posting regularly are outliers. We are not normal curve representative opinion.)

What should matter is the pure numbers on how people that have signed up on this board use it or don't.

In all 6825 people have signed up for this board. probably 100K or so have viewed it. Admin might have more info on that.

1450 people that signed up have made 0 posts

1900 have posted only 1 time

800 have posted twice

460 with 3 posts

270 with 4 posts

180 with 5 posts

Lets pause there and note a full 5050 out of 6830 people that signed up have 5 or fewer posts. (74%)

Chronically addicted to C2E (5000 or more posts) Around 33 posters fit that category. Of these posters that have posted here regularly only around half, if that, post here regularly now. In anycase using the 33 posters that's 0.5% of posters that have signed up here. Half of 1%. 1 in 200 stay dedicated to this board.

I post this today for one reason. I referenced this earlier. What I suggest to people is that anytime here that it appears there is some consensus, and that an opinion is being drowned out, that the seemingly disparate opinion may not in fact be that. It might only seem that due to the opinions of the outlier posters that actually stay on here that are so unrepresentative of wider opinion which is generally not contained herein.

By and large selection goes on here and those of us remain tend to be thick skinned, stubborn, argumentative, polarized, and most of the time probably oblivious to the readers or lurkers who are out there. Thus this post denoting them.

My own preference has always been to try to have behavior that results in more than a hundred people participating. I suspect the site itself, and the founder of this site has always wanted that as well. At least I've always heard that message conveyed and tried to heed it.

Last edited by Replacement; 23-01-2016 at 02:05 PM.

"if god exists and he allowed that to happen, then its better that he doesn't exist"

using google analytical stats that I'm still privy to, this site has a tons of non-registered lurkers as well... and more than just spam bots/spiders.

Lots of people view this site, some contribute. Most people dont have anything to add, or dont wish to engage. This happens on most forums.

Nothing too shocking here, or in the stats replacement has posted. This site is as popular as it was a few years ago.

Its not all that clear that this is at all typical as per proportion.

In anycase one of the goals of any community/civic related board would be to GROW active users since inception. Not to remain status quo at a very low amount of active users.
I'm not sure why you think the bolded is social media acceptable. Sites that are considered successful grow in use.

It should be shocking to anybody that this site in all its time has resulted in only 430members that have EVER posted as many as 100 posts.

The name of this site is "Connect 2 Edmonton"

Not "Connect 2 Medwards"

certainly not "Connect 2 Replacement"

or "Connect 2 IanO or Moahunter"

just jk around there.

Last edited by Replacement; 23-01-2016 at 02:58 PM.

"if god exists and he allowed that to happen, then its better that he doesn't exist"

A discussion board with many hundreds of active users can be interesting, and I follow a few, but it lacks a 'voice', or a cohesive feel. What more can over 200 people say on a topic, really?

Sometimes 100-200 active users is just the perfect amount for a lively discussion that continues to attract eyeballs.

Being that you started this thread I figured you would be more open to a discussion on the extremely insular nature of this board.

The reality is this board hasn't been what it was intended to be and I don't know that even the founder of the board would disagree there.

This is a metropolitan area with a population of 1.2M with a "Connect 2 Edmonton" (consider the name and plausible purpose of such an titled board) with around 200 regular contributors, if that.

The reality is poster count in almost any thread is made up of primarily 5-10 posters. Sometimes as much as 20.

That you would think this a "perfect" configuration astounds me considering you were complaining about it only a month or so ago.

The reality for me here is I stay out of the vast majority of threads and topics knowing exactly who is going to be posting in those threads and knowing what their take is going to be before they even post.

Its like having dinner parties with the same people for a dozen years. Gets old quick. Tone ensues because the finite group grows largely fed up with each others limited and predictable opinions.

The board isn't exciting, the discussion isn't attractive, its often tiring.

Last edited by Replacement; 24-01-2016 at 03:33 PM.

"if god exists and he allowed that to happen, then its better that he doesn't exist"

I always expected a forum like this would have 10-20,000 posters. To me, things like Facebook are very insular because you're just 'talking to the converted' as in your friends. Other forums are typically very myopic and deal with just a single interest, rant or whatever. Media forums are initiated solely by the published / released story. C2e however is freestyle and open.

I think internet forums in general are on a downswing regarding numbers. Call it the "Facebook Effect" if you will, but many people that might have created an account and debated here just do it on facebook instead.

I always expected a forum like this would have 10-20,000 posters. To me, things like Facebook are very insular because you're just 'talking to the converted' as in your friends. Other forums are typically very myopic and deal with just a single interest, rant or whatever. Media forums are initiated solely by the published / released story. C2e however is freestyle and open.

A forum with 10-20,000 active members would be a nightmare. How long could a thread be kept cohesive with that many people posting. You just have to follow some threads on C2E to see how fast they go off the rails.
On a similar note of people posting. I read newspapers on line quite a bit. I have never posted an opinion/comment on any article I have read and there have been hundreds. Not that I don't have an opinion just never took it upon myself to comment. I'll read other peoples comments though and I imagine there are more people reading the comments than actually posting them to newspapers.

A discussion board with many hundreds of active users can be interesting, and I follow a few, but it lacks a 'voice', or a cohesive feel. What more can over 200 people say on a topic, really?

Sometimes 100-200 active users is just the perfect amount for a lively discussion that continues to attract eyeballs.

Being that you started this thread I figured you would be more open to a discussion on the extremely insular nature of this board.

The reality is this board hasn't been what it was intended to be and I don't know that even the founder of the board would disagree there.

This is a metropolitan area with a population of 1.2M with a "Connect 2 Edmonton" (consider the name and plausible purpose of such an titled board) with around 200 regular contributors, if that.

The reality is poster count in almost any thread is made up of primarily 5-10 posters. Sometimes as much as 20.

That you would think this a "perfect" configuration astounds me considering you were complaining about it only a month or so ago.

The reality for me here is I stay out of the vast majority of threads and topics knowing exactly who is going to be posting in those threads and knowing what their take is going to be before they even post.

Its like having dinner parties with the same people for a dozen years. Gets old quick. Tone ensues because the finite group grows largely fed up with each others limited and predictable opinions.

The board isn't exciting, the discussion isn't attractive, its often tiring.

I guess no one is stopping others from signing up though. As long as posters are respectful, I think all would welcome new members. In fact, if any non-contributors are reading this right now, I would encourage you to chime in.

A discussion board with many hundreds of active users can be interesting, and I follow a few, but it lacks a 'voice', or a cohesive feel. What more can over 200 people say on a topic, really?

Sometimes 100-200 active users is just the perfect amount for a lively discussion that continues to attract eyeballs.

Being that you started this thread I figured you would be more open to a discussion on the extremely insular nature of this board.

The reality is this board hasn't been what it was intended to be and I don't know that even the founder of the board would disagree there.

This is a metropolitan area with a population of 1.2M with a "Connect 2 Edmonton" (consider the name and plausible purpose of such an titled board) with around 200 regular contributors, if that.

The reality is poster count in almost any thread is made up of primarily 5-10 posters. Sometimes as much as 20.

That you would think this a "perfect" configuration astounds me considering you were complaining about it only a month or so ago.

The reality for me here is I stay out of the vast majority of threads and topics knowing exactly who is going to be posting in those threads and knowing what their take is going to be before they even post.

Its like having dinner parties with the same people for a dozen years. Gets old quick. Tone ensues because the finite group grows largely fed up with each others limited and predictable opinions.

The board isn't exciting, the discussion isn't attractive, its often tiring.

I guess no one is stopping others from signing up though. As long as posters are respectful, I think all would welcome new members. In fact, if any non-contributors are reading this right now, I would encourage you to chime in.

The bolded is the issue. This is the most uniformly bitter, infighting board I've been on. In one of my first posts on this board I was mocked and ganged up on by half a dozen posters calling me "Jan Reimer" for one view I had expressed. That was my welcome moment to this board. Pack mentality, bared fangs, and ready to jump on any view that is discordant to the precious assumed plurality. This board, again, is ironically titled "Connect 2 Edmonton" with this being a board where some view this as their own personal livingroom in which to routinely insult other posters.

Differing views are routinely drowned out here any day of the week with it routinely suggested, any day, that posters that offer differing opinion are trolls, idiots, misguided etc.

Who, really, would be encouraged to continue to post here in this milieu? That so few Edmontonians have shown participatory interest is demonstration of how offputting this board is and how unrepresentative its views expressed are.

I've rallied for the board to try to be more than that but to no real avail. Its gotten better, because multiple posters like myself refused to be silenced by bullies, many of whom have since disappeared, but still discussion here very limited and very dominated by the few.

Last edited by Replacement; 24-01-2016 at 06:18 PM.

"if god exists and he allowed that to happen, then its better that he doesn't exist"

A discussion board with many hundreds of active users can be interesting, and I follow a few, but it lacks a 'voice', or a cohesive feel. What more can over 200 people say on a topic, really?

Sometimes 100-200 active users is just the perfect amount for a lively discussion that continues to attract eyeballs.

Being that you started this thread I figured you would be more open to a discussion on the extremely insular nature of this board.

The reality is this board hasn't been what it was intended to be and I don't know that even the founder of the board would disagree there.

This is a metropolitan area with a population of 1.2M with a "Connect 2 Edmonton" (consider the name and plausible purpose of such an titled board) with around 200 regular contributors, if that.

The reality is poster count in almost any thread is made up of primarily 5-10 posters. Sometimes as much as 20.

That you would think this a "perfect" configuration astounds me considering you were complaining about it only a month or so ago.

The reality for me here is I stay out of the vast majority of threads and topics knowing exactly who is going to be posting in those threads and knowing what their take is going to be before they even post.

Its like having dinner parties with the same people for a dozen years. Gets old quick. Tone ensues because the finite group grows largely fed up with each others limited and predictable opinions.

The board isn't exciting, the discussion isn't attractive, its often tiring.[/QUOTE]

(highlighted by me)

Did you ever think people maybe not want to post because of what you say. Your starting to sound a bit elitist.
I find there are enough diversified people posting to keep it interesting. Sure one could say some people are predictable. You, yourself are somewhat predictable in your answers. Should we stop reading them?.
If your having dinner parties with the same people and it's getting old maybe it's you and not them. Your saying this like you are not part of it. For someone who says the board isn't exciting, attractive and often tiring you sure have a lot to say in it in your usually long winded manner.

^When you say you stay out of the vast majority of threads because you know who will be posting in them and what they will say makes it sound like your too good to be posting in that thread, or somehow your above the fray. Do you really think you know what everyone thinks or is going to post on anyone topic?. Do you really think you know the posters that well, are you that bright. I sure don't know what and who is going to post one day to the next or what their views are on every matter. You sound like you would like to shape the forum in a fashion that suits you, like you want to lord over it. Good luck with that.

^When you say you stay out of the vast majority of threads because you know who will be posting in them and what they will say makes it sound like your too good to be posting in that thread, or somehow your above the fray. Do you really think you know what everyone thinks or is going to post on anyone topic?. Do you really think you know the posters that well, are you that bright. I sure don't know what and who is going to post one day to the next or what their views are on every matter. You sound like you would like to shape the forum in a fashion that suits you, like you want to lord over it. Good luck with that.

Or maybe I, like most people have a conditioned experience to stay out of those threads.

As per the bolded look at the list of topten posters on this board. Do you very much doubt that I would know what they generally have to say on the garden variety topic on this board?

lol that you think I want to lord over anything. That couldn't be FARTHER from the point. I am saying I WANT a plurality of posters posting here. Much more posters regularly posting here. Much less of 10 posters making up 27% of the entire posts in the history of this board which is CLEARLY indicative of dominance by the few and limited, less extensive, participatory interest in this board.

Last edited by Replacement; 24-01-2016 at 07:20 PM.

"if god exists and he allowed that to happen, then its better that he doesn't exist"

^Your beginning to sound like someone that does not like a certain dish but repeatedly orders it just to complain. As in, this forum is not that good but I'll come back and post anyway because everyone is entitled to my opinion.

^Your beginning to sound like someone that does not like a certain dish but repeatedly orders it just to complain. As in, this forum is not that good but I'll come back and post anyway because everyone is entitled to my opinion.

You're sounding like someone not listening. Why are you so interested in attacking me? Are you modeling inappropriate posting and condemnation so as to serve example of that which is being conveyed as concern on this board?

let me know..

If there was another more civil Edmonton topical forum around that anybody has to recommend I'll gladly venture there.

I persist in posting here because its better than having no similar alternative.

Last edited by Replacement; 24-01-2016 at 08:10 PM.

"if god exists and he allowed that to happen, then its better that he doesn't exist"

^No, I'm not listing, haven't had one drink but if we keep this up I may be wanting one.
If you think my comments are an attack on you that's your perception and not mine.
No, I don't know of any more Edmonton forums that I can warn them about you maybe joining.
If you persist on posting here I guess I will persist on reading your posts and even replying to them. If you don't like my response that's your prerogative.

^No, I'm not listing, haven't had one drink but if we keep this up I may be wanting one.
If you think my comments are an attack on you that's your perception and not mine.
No, I don't know of any more Edmonton forums that I can warn them about you maybe joining.
If you persist on posting here I guess I will persist on reading your posts and even replying to them. If you don't like my response that's your prerogative.

Damn autocorrect. You sure you're not listing? Not even a little bit?

Hey, in a few short posts you assumed I was being elitist, long winded, arrogant, above it all, snooty, lording over, etc.

Could we say assumptive condemnation or is that long winded.

Next reply should I just say nope..

"if god exists and he allowed that to happen, then its better that he doesn't exist"

^Well, you have called everyone on this board unattractive, tiring and unexciting. Then if you read in between the lines a few other things.
Over to you.

I think you misinterpreted. I was speaking about interactional dynamic. Invite a dinner party of guests over for 10 days and everybody is reduced to being tired and unexciting. Keep such a party together long enough and it leads to squabbling. Inevitably.

An interesting experiment is to go on long holidays with friends or extended family. See how long that feels great..

Variety being the spice of life and all that.

There needs to be more input on this site from different posters.

Last edited by Replacement; 24-01-2016 at 08:39 PM.

"if god exists and he allowed that to happen, then its better that he doesn't exist"

^You also tend to go for circular conversations (mostly with yourself).
If you are bored with this board maybe go some where else and hit the refresh button.
That's usually the info given out when someone is bored with something. Find some thing else to do. Take up Zumba dancing, bungee jumping, petite-point, bird watching, (feathered and human), tea reading, navel gaze etc. There is a whole host of things for a person to do. Maybe that's what the other people who do not post on here do.

But you can't really compare HockeyForums with C2E. The demographics are different and the purpose is different. In HF you have fans dedicated to following their team. People who sign up and post are diehard and all have the same goal in mind...to see their team win.

Why do people sign up to C2E? Some are here just to talk about particular subjects....sports, politics, crime, retail, current events, etc. Sure, there are the one dozen regulars here who post about everything everyday. But a lot of times, people from outside Alberta post only once to ask some question about living in Edmonton.

There is one similarity between HF and C2E. Looking at the Edmonton Oilers thread, I see the same people posting everyday and they all have between 5000-15000+ total posts each.

I've made maybe 20 total posts at HF since 2006. When I do I am largely ignored because I am not a regular. I am not complaining, it's just the way it is on social media. I have no cache or clout so no one gives a peep about my opinion compared to someone with 45000 posts.

Someone should create a survey about C2E demographics. Would have to be on a 3rd party site and not associated with usernames. I would like to see an analysis of the average age, gender, cultural/national background, income, education level, employment industry of posters here to verify how "insular" we really are.

I'll put my bet on the group being far more diverse than some here are giving credit for.

Someone should create a survey about C2E demographics. Would have to be on a 3rd party site and not associated with usernames. I would like to see an analysis of the average age, gender, cultural/national background, income, education level, employment industry of posters here to verify how "insular" we really are.

I'll put my bet on the group being far more diverse than some here are giving credit for.

I bet we're all the same based on some psychological classification. We probably all suffer from some twisted human mental condition.

Otherwise, as for classification like employment, age, etc. that you provided, almost all has changed dramatically for me over the years. Career change, income change, industry change, age change... Maybe, just maybe, some attitude changes occurred too.

Thanks for that, and I wasn't fully aware it was coined a "rule" but having read that a lot of the studies cited are quite old, 10 or more yrs, and the only recent one mentioned that is corroborating is a study of patient/treatment boards wherein posting would infer disclosure of a sort. With of course people being less likely to disclose very personal progress and details.

An additional critique I would offer is that this again is "Connect 2 Edmonton", a civic community board of sorts. It isn't reddit, it isn't twitter, it isn't comment sections of news..
Yet I look around on this board and at any given time can see half a dozen threads where people are going at it, insulting one another, and with ongoing battles between posters going on indefinitely. Which causes me to raise another thing is of the very finite amount of posts that have ever been posted on this board I wonder what proportion are posters taking numbers
and sidelining countless topics with their own unending flame affairs.
Just because online communication from onset gravitated to the mostly desultory, rude, and condescending tones (I'm saying in general) is that reason to suggest that it can never get better? That this board shouldn't get better in terms of interaction? I think that brings us back to the missive of the OP. Which is basically deploring people to at least consider tone. manner of interaction, etc.

"if god exists and he allowed that to happen, then its better that he doesn't exist"

But you can't really compare HockeyForums with C2E. The demographics are different and the purpose is different. In HF you have fans dedicated to following their team. People who sign up and post are diehard and all have the same goal in mind...to see their team win.

Why do people sign up to C2E? Some are here just to talk about particular subjects....sports, politics, crime, retail, current events, etc. Sure, there are the one dozen regulars here who post about everything everyday. But a lot of times, people from outside Alberta post only once to ask some question about living in Edmonton.

There is one similarity between HF and C2E. Looking at the Edmonton Oilers thread, I see the same people posting everyday and they all have between 5000-15000+ total posts each.

I've made maybe 20 total posts at HF since 2006. When I do I am largely ignored because I am not a regular. I am not complaining, it's just the way it is on social media. I have no cache or clout so no one gives a peep about my opinion compared to someone with 45000 posts.

I used to be a mod on HF so was privy to an added board and extra stats/metrics/information including individual boards stats.

The amount and proportion of regular posters there at Hf Edmonton is much more than here.
For instance there would be more than a hundred posters on that HF Edmonton board that have posted over 5K posts. Theres a mere 33 here.

Theres around 600 posters on the Hf Edmonton board that have had anywhere from 500-5000 posts. Theres a mere 200 here.

There would be well over a 1000 posters on Hf Edmonton that have posted 100-500 posts. Theres 230 of those here.

Now both boards have operated roughly the same length of time. It would seem odd, and somewhat indicative of participation here being second rate, for a hockey board to be much more frequented and invoke much more participation than a civic board.

I've also found that board to be MUCH more civil and welcoming than this one with apologies to the posters here like yourself that maintain civic, friendly decorum.

Something is wrong here on this board.

Last edited by Replacement; 26-01-2016 at 08:04 AM.

"if god exists and he allowed that to happen, then its better that he doesn't exist"

No, something is wrong when the masses only give a shlt about hockey. The nice thing about this board is that there's real issues that we discuss, hockey is just a game and in the grand scheme of things doesn't really matter. At all. Meanwhile, here in Alberta people are losing their jobs but a stupid game, for the masses, supersedes any of that. Kind of pathetic, if you ask me.

This isn't a rainbow, candy coated, puppy dog hobby forum so will always have some difficulties.

No, something is wrong when the masses only give a shlt about hockey. The nice thing about this board is that there's real issues that we discuss, hockey is just a game and in the grand scheme of things doesn't really matter. At all. Meanwhile, here in Alberta people are losing their jobs but a stupid game, for the masses, supersedes any of that. Kind of pathetic, if you ask me.

This isn't a rainbow, candy coated, puppy dog hobby forum so will always have some difficulties.

Of course its mindblowing that people would rather post on a hockey board than here but to be quite honest I've suggested this board to lots of Edmonton posters over the years at HF and they routinely see this place as quite unfriendly, quite unwelcoming.

I'm only still here because I'm obstinate. I've enjoyed discussions with you, maybe with around 20 people that post here. But I enjoy discussions with 100's of people at hf. Thing is, when I'm talking online to decompress from a stressful job the camaraderie of that board really works for me.

Not so much here. Most days I check in here I see somebody taking somebodies head off or posters ganging up on a poster or 2-3 posters going at it for days, weeks.

I would RATHER post here as I am quite interested in posting on many civic issues. But I get dissuaded from doing that here on a regular basis. I don't fit here apparently. Or something.

But who really does?

Last edited by Replacement; 26-01-2016 at 01:36 PM.

"if god exists and he allowed that to happen, then its better that he doesn't exist"

I agree Replacement, like I said this isn't a hobby forum (95% of forums on the internet are just that) so it has challenges, which are to be expected due to the nature of open discussion. A lot of politics to be talked about and we all know where that usually ends up...

Most forums are simply not like that and it can come off as being negative... or not very friendly.

I agree Replacement, like I said this isn't a hobby forum (95% of forums on the internet are just that) so it has challenges, which are to be expected due to the nature of open discussion. A lot of politics to be talked about and we all know where that usually ends up...

Most forums are simply not like that and it can come off as being negative... or not very friendly.

Understood, but it isn't just that. People can discuss complex topics if they are willing to do so and do so civilly as some posters here manage to do.

Otherwise it just becomes noise and he said she said. I can get enough vitriol from extended family.

Case in point. In person many people are capable of carrying out discussions quite civilly fairly regardless of topic.

Its only the internet nature of established domain that has resulted in such things as feeling its OK to let human interaction plummet to flame wars and condescension. With that being the mode on the internet that was first established by such people as programmers and nerds who were not as versed in well developed social interaction.

But in the advent of that, and the world now online, why does the plurality follow suit with an antisocial mode of interaction first established online? I've always wondered that.

At some point one has to hope for better interaction online. As more and more people spend more and more of their human interaction online and wherein the internet is the global sphere upon which human global interaction and judgement occurs..

sorry if that was too deep.

Last edited by Replacement; 26-01-2016 at 02:22 PM.

"if god exists and he allowed that to happen, then its better that he doesn't exist"

1- C2E is actually a collection of forums. Threads on construction, real estate developments, aviation (specific to Edmontn), food, sports etc. Some are very specialized subjects with posters with quite a deep knowledge of what's going on, so it limits the range of people participating. I don't have much of an educated opinion to offer on many threads, so prefer to lurk. So it takes a long time for someone like me to move from 50-500 posts to the next level.

2- ( related to point 1) The stats on prolific posters are skewed because that handful of "addicts" participate in all threads. There are also a lot of one-liners they post to agree/disagree with other posts. What I am trying to say is quality is as important as quantity. I rather learn something new from someone who knows what s/he is talking about than a random post from a random poster.

3- Given the forum's traffic is not monetized, no active attemp is made to recruit new members. Most often, as was the case for me, when you search for answer online regarding an Edmonton issue, you come across the board and in particular "Ask Ed".

4- Finally I want to mention the role of economic cycle. I did notice the tone of conversations has become a bit more aggressive than I remember when I joined. On subjects that have a divisive nature, in particular, like politics, sometimes I recently see behaviour that is just ridiculous. However, I just move on on those threads thinking one never knows the hardship that some people might feel in their life given the downturn. Even if you are not directly affected, being surrounded by bad news, layoffs, wage cuts, home prices rolling over etc, you will be psychologically affected. Another tell tale sign that the business cycle affected Alberta also affects C2E is the less active Ask Ed thread that mentioned before. It shows that less people are moving here.

I agree Replacement, like I said this isn't a hobby forum (95% of forums on the internet are just that) so it has challenges, which are to be expected due to the nature of open discussion. A lot of politics to be talked about and we all know where that usually ends up...

Most forums are simply not like that and it can come off as being negative... or not very friendly.

Understood, but it isn't just that. People can discuss complex topics if they are willing to do so and do so civilly as some posters here manage to do.

Otherwise it just becomes noise and he said she said. I can get enough vitriol from extended family.

Case in point. In person many people are capable of carrying out discussions quite civilly fairly regardless of topic.

Its only the internet nature of established domain that has resulted in such things as feeling its OK to let human interaction plummet to flame wars and condescension. With that being the mode on the internet that was first established by such people as programmers and nerds who were not as versed in well developed social interaction.

But in the advent of that, and the world now online, why does the plurality follow suit with an antisocial mode of interaction first established online? I've always wondered that.

At some point one has to hope for better interaction online. As more and more people spend more and more of their human interaction online and wherein the internet is the global sphere upon which human global interaction and judgement occurs..

sorry if that was too deep.

Bingo, your 'sorry if that was to deep' remark is the perfect finish to that post.
You are over thinking these internet forum interactions way to much.
People post, some people don't post, some people like some posts not so much others. Some people get offended by some posts, others don't . Some people get offended enough to retaliate, some don't. You make simple humane interactions and analyze them to death.
Give it up on this thread. Your starting to sound like a stuck record. Let it go.

Well I tried to bring this up in a thread in which this is on topic. Not sure why I bothered.

The complete lack of self-awareness about your own tone in a thread about the tone of conversation is sheer comedy gold.

So break it down then. Being that you're generalizing and mocking me for it in multiple posts your stated response seemingly isn't to provide me with helpful feedback.
I don't think I've been rude to anybody in the exchange. Or inappropriate.

When I stated "I shouldn't bother" its because it got nowhere and I shouldn't have believed the topic would go anywhere. I'll own that.

I even thanked you for an earlier post. This is the trouble with online communication, its so easy to not come across right.

I don't know if you're reading in something that I'm not intending. If I'm commenting on things I'm speaking dynamics, not blaming anybody ftr.

Just would be nice if the forum was more inclusive. I get now that that's not wanted, I'll move along.

Last edited by Replacement; 26-01-2016 at 06:14 PM.

"if god exists and he allowed that to happen, then its better that he doesn't exist"

I agree Replacement, like I said this isn't a hobby forum (95% of forums on the internet are just that) so it has challenges, which are to be expected due to the nature of open discussion. A lot of politics to be talked about and we all know where that usually ends up...

Most forums are simply not like that and it can come off as being negative... or not very friendly.

Understood, but it isn't just that. People can discuss complex topics if they are willing to do so and do so civilly as some posters here manage to do.

Otherwise it just becomes noise and he said she said. I can get enough vitriol from extended family.

Case in point. In person many people are capable of carrying out discussions quite civilly fairly regardless of topic.

Its only the internet nature of established domain that has resulted in such things as feeling its OK to let human interaction plummet to flame wars and condescension. With that being the mode on the internet that was first established by such people as programmers and nerds who were not as versed in well developed social interaction.

But in the advent of that, and the world now online, why does the plurality follow suit with an antisocial mode of interaction first established online? I've always wondered that.

At some point one has to hope for better interaction online. As more and more people spend more and more of their human interaction online and wherein the internet is the global sphere upon which human global interaction and judgement occurs..

sorry if that was too deep.

Bingo, your 'sorry if that was to deep' remark is the perfect finish to that post.
You are over thinking these internet forum interactions way to much.
People post, some people don't post, some people like some posts not so much others. Some people get offended by some posts, others don't . Some people get offended enough to retaliate, some don't. You make simple humane interactions and analyze them to death.
Give it up on this thread. Your starting to sound like a stuck record. Let it go.

Thanks, I can at least view this as helpful feedback. I was moving on, people keep responding. I always think its rude not to answer.

"if god exists and he allowed that to happen, then its better that he doesn't exist"